Vista laptop freeze up

[The Seabat]

Howdy: Toshiba Satellite L305-S5955 laptop, Vista Home Basic w/SP1,
2GB RAM. Have trouble loading OS and when/if loaded will freeze the
desktop when trying to launch ANY program, even just clicking on the
Start Menu button. Mouse remains active through it all. It just shows
the little twirling busy circle (or whatever it's called!) and nothing
will work, not even the Start menu or the Task Manager. Only recourse
is to do a hard shut down.

I've run System Repair, restored to the last known good point, turned
off everything in msconfig (includ anti-virus). Can't get into the
event log, starting in SafeMode the system freezes at crcdisk.exe in
the DOS menu. Tried using a Vista disc to re-install over existing
system, but no go. Apparently Toshiba only lets you do a repair
install from the recovery disks, which I don't have and were not made
when she bought the 'puter.

Ran Memtest to check the RAM. Tried to run Linux Puppy and Memphis
Live CD's and no joy. Both got hung up with the video selection. I
tried both types. Any more is beyond my capabilities.

The only time I was in SafeMode was at a command prompt. Again, over
my head, but I did run the command "sfc.exe /scannow" and it ran, but
did not display any files it could not fix/repair. Did not ask for the
install disc, so from what I've read that means the system files are
good? The only thing that I can think of doing now is a fresh/clean
install, assuming that there are no hardware problems. Have nothing
hooked up to the unit except a USB mouse, and yes I've tried
unplugging that puppy to see if that was the cause. It wasn't.

Any ideas, anybody?? I'm getting frustrated and desperate.

 

[Warren Smith]

Howdy: Toshiba Satellite L305-S5955 laptop, Vista Home Basic w/SP1,
2GB RAM. Have trouble loading OS and when/if loaded will freeze the
desktop when trying to launch ANY program, even just clicking on the
Start Menu button. Mouse remains active through it all. It just shows
the little twirling busy circle (or whatever it's called!) and nothing
will work, not even the Start menu or the Task Manager. Only recourse
is to do a hard shut down.

I've run System Repair, restored to the last known good point, turned
off everything in msconfig (includ anti-virus). Can't get into the
event log, starting in SafeMode the system freezes at crcdisk.exe in
the DOS menu. Tried using a Vista disc to re-install over existing
system, but no go. Apparently Toshiba only lets you do a repair
install from the recovery disks, which I don't have and were not made
when she bought the 'puter.

Ran Memtest to check the RAM. Tried to run Linux Puppy and Memphis
Live CD's and no joy. Both got hung up with the video selection. I
tried both types. Any more is beyond my capabilities.

The only time I was in SafeMode was at a command prompt. Again, over
my head, but I did run the command "sfc.exe /scannow" and it ran, but
did not display any files it could not fix/repair. Did not ask for the
install disc, so from what I've read that means the system files are
good? The only thing that I can think of doing now is a fresh/clean
install, assuming that there are no hardware problems. Have nothing
hooked up to the unit except a USB mouse, and yes I've tried
unplugging that puppy to see if that was the cause. It wasn't.

Any ideas, anybody?? I'm getting frustrated and desperate.

Often Vista doesn't install properly. I had the problem on my wifes Lenovo,
couldn't connect to the internet and other problems. I re-installed and it
worked - well sorta worked. But that's Vista, if you can get it to kinda
work you're doin' well. So, try doing a re-install.

Good Luck!

Warren Smith
3/33 Acorn Cresent
Maitland NSW
Australia
(e-mail address removed)

 

[empatron]

Although unlikely, you might be seeing the first signs of a soon-to-be bad
drive. One decent diagnostics program I've run across is the one from
Western Digital, which seems to work across all brands of drives. Best of
all, it's free. Here's the download link if you want to give it a shot:
http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=502&sid=3&lang=en

- empatron